Tomas threat for Haiti
Source: Agencies |
November 2, 2010, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
NO longer a hurricane, Tropical Storm Tomas swirled over warm Caribbean waters yesterday and forecasters warned it could regain power and threaten the crowded quake refugee camps in Haiti.
The storm already has been blamed for five deaths in the eastern Caribbean, where tiny islands were still assessing the damage from the hurricane that swept through over the weekend with winds near 160 kilometers per hour.
Tomas slipped under the threshold for a hurricane on Sunday evening. The US National Hurricane Center in Miami predicted more weakening before it begins to strengthen again around midweek.
At that point, Tomas is expected to veer northward in the general direction of Haiti, where some 1.3 million people are living under tarps and in tents that are vulnerable to heavy rains and wind.
Daniel Brown, a center forecaster, said Tomas is "likely to strengthen when it's over the central Caribbean," and Haiti could be hit by rains from outer bands in another couple of days.
Brown said it was too early to say how strong Tomas could become later in the week or if Haiti might suffer a direct hit. But, he added, "there's certainly going to be the threat of heavy rainfall" in the impoverished nation, where widespread deforestation and ramshackle homes mean even moderate rains can cause devastation.
Aid workers in Haiti fear the worst. Hundreds of thousands of people there have only rudimentary shelter nearly 10 months after the January 12 earthquake, and a cholera epidemic has killed more than 330 and hospitalized nearly 5,000.
"It's just so complex and it's very serious," said Imogen Wall of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. "We are so stretched already with the cholera, and we are running a daily earthquake response as well."
The storm already has been blamed for five deaths in the eastern Caribbean, where tiny islands were still assessing the damage from the hurricane that swept through over the weekend with winds near 160 kilometers per hour.
Tomas slipped under the threshold for a hurricane on Sunday evening. The US National Hurricane Center in Miami predicted more weakening before it begins to strengthen again around midweek.
At that point, Tomas is expected to veer northward in the general direction of Haiti, where some 1.3 million people are living under tarps and in tents that are vulnerable to heavy rains and wind.
Daniel Brown, a center forecaster, said Tomas is "likely to strengthen when it's over the central Caribbean," and Haiti could be hit by rains from outer bands in another couple of days.
Brown said it was too early to say how strong Tomas could become later in the week or if Haiti might suffer a direct hit. But, he added, "there's certainly going to be the threat of heavy rainfall" in the impoverished nation, where widespread deforestation and ramshackle homes mean even moderate rains can cause devastation.
Aid workers in Haiti fear the worst. Hundreds of thousands of people there have only rudimentary shelter nearly 10 months after the January 12 earthquake, and a cholera epidemic has killed more than 330 and hospitalized nearly 5,000.
"It's just so complex and it's very serious," said Imogen Wall of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. "We are so stretched already with the cholera, and we are running a daily earthquake response as well."
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
